As part of measures against global warming, electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHV) having excellent carbon dioxide emissions performance attract increasing attention. Since EVs and PHVs require charging, it is necessary to provide charging facilities when these vehicles are implemented.
FIG. 9 is a drawing illustrating a configuration example of charging facilities comprising chargers 1A to 1E. In FIG. 9, the charging facilities comprise the plurality of chargers 1A to 1E (five chargers in FIG. 9), a charge controller 2, a distribution board 3, a signal cable 4, and a plurality of power cables 5 (five cables in FIG. 9). The chargers 1A to 1E charge an EV or PHV. The charge controller 2 accepts a user's operation, controls the chargers 1A to 1E according to the operation of the user, and provides a means of payment to the user. The distribution board 3 supplies power to each of the chargers 1A to 1E. The signal cable 4 connects the charge controller 2 and the chargers 1A to 1E in a daisy-chain arrangement, and relays a control signal transmitted by the charge controller 2 (for instance a signal compliant with RS (Recommended Standard)-485) to the chargers 1A to 1E. The plurality of power cables 5 connect the distribution board 3 to the corresponding chargers 1A to 1E.
The charge controller 2 is further connected to a server group 8 constituted by various servers via a LAN (Local Area Network), a router 6, and a carrier network 7. For instance, the server group 8 includes an electronic money server and a management server for the administrator of the charging facilities. The charge controller 2 provides a means of payment by electronic money to the user by communicating with the electronic money server. Further, a company that administers the charging facilities remotely operates and manages the charging facilities by operating the charge controller 2 via the management server.
Further, in recent years, home appliances (for instance air conditioner, television, lighting apparatus, rice cooker, microwave oven, water heater, wash machine, etc.) utilizing information and communication technologies (ICT) have appeared, and technologies that uniformly control these home appliances using a home appliances controller have gained attention.
As a related technology, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technology that enables a star wiring connection in an SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) system.
Further, Patent Literature 2 discloses a technology that increases the flexibility of wiring connecting a host controller to a plurality of encoders and that enables a daisy-chain connection without connecting a terminator at the end by providing a built-in terminator in the encoders.
[Patent Literature 1]
Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-A-H08-111680
[Patent Literature 2]
Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. JP-P2004-178081A